Since taking over as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics in 2000, Joe Quesada has hosted his “Cup O’ Joe” panel at conventions all over the globe, offering fans a chance to speak their mind to him directly.

With today’s news that Axel Alonso is taking over as editor-in-chief as Quesada focuses on his position of Chief Creative Officer, questions are being asked across the industry, but perhaps none as vitally important — with as far-reaching implications on the future of both the comic book business and the world of entertainment as a whole — than these: Will Alonso be hosting a similar panel? And will the title of it also be a pun based on his first name? Together with my long-time collaborator Ben, we tackled the second question, coming up with a list of some likely candidates.

“Cup O’ Axel”
Pros: Consistency; brand recognition; strong precedent; won’t be confused for a coffee industry panel.
Cons: Thoroughly unoriginal; arguably nonsensical.

“Axel-Grinding”
Pros: Solid pun; courts hip skateboarding crowd.
Cons: Invites negativity; sounds kind of gross.

“Axe Axel”
Pros: Fun to say.
Cons: Offensive.

“Triple Axel”
Pros: Figure skating is always pretty popular, at least for a couple of weeks every four years.
Cons: Might disappoint fans expecting Alonso to be joined on the dais by Axel Foley and late Swedish ornithologist Axel Wilhelm Eriksson.

“Axel Rose… Up and Answered Some Questions”
Pros: Attractive to fans of late ’80s/early ’90s hard rock (strong crossover demographic with superhero comic book fans).
Cons: Maybe too long to fit comfortably in the programming grids in convention pamphlets; potentially a bit of a stretch.

“Axelsior”
Pros: Plays off Marvel history with Stan Lee’s “Excelsior!” catchphrase; evokes the word “access.”
Cons: Evokes the character Access.

Do you have any ideas? Let us know in the comments!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 4th, 2011 at 5:14 pm and is filed under Marvel, News & Views. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.